Saudi stock exchange sets IPO offer price at top end of range

Saudi Tadawul Group Holding set the final price of its initial public offering at the top end of the range, giving the Riyadh-based bourse a valuation of SAR12.6bn ($3.4bn).

Tadawul, as the exchange is known, set the price at SAR105 per share after an institutional book-building process, according to a statement. The coverage ratio amounted to 121 per cent of total shares on offer.

At that price, the share sale will raise as much as $1bn for the exchange’s sole shareholder, the Public Investment Fund, from selling a 30 per cent stake.

In November, Tadawul had set the price range at SAR95 to SAR105 a share.

The offering comes amid an IPO boom, with companies around the world raising a record of more than $600bn this year.

Against that backdrop, Saudi Arabia has been among the leaders in the Middle East, listing private and family-owned firms as well as companies such as ACWA Power International, backed by the kingdom’s wealth fund, and Saudi Telecom Co.’s internet-services unit.